Harris Beach Attorneys to Provide Law Scholarships for Minority Students

11/26/07

Harris Beach Attorneys to Provide Law Scholarships for Minority Students

James Spitz, the CEO of Harris Beach Law Firm, and H. Todd Bullard, partner and leader of the firm's diversity compliance practice team, have joined hands to provide law scholarship opportunities to minority students in a specially designated effort to build a more diverse workforce. Harris Beach operates offices in every major metropolitan area of New York State, including Albany, Ithaca, and Syracuse. Spitz and Bullard are offering scholarships to high school seniors graduating from the City School District or the Urban-Suburban Interdistrict Transfer Program who plan to attend law school. Students who receive financial assistance from the firm will also be allowed to participate in its law student summer program and will be considered for employment upon successfully graduating law school.

Law School Tuition May Have Reached a Peak
The current price tag for most private three-year law schools is $100,000, a result of the substantial 50%-90% increase in tuition over the last decade. And while applying for a scholarship may seem like an obvious good deal, it can rebound on you over the long term if you don't land a job at one of the nation's high-paying firms because they typically limit their recruiting at lower-tier law schools to very top-performing students. Fewer law schools can thus be considered bargains, which could drive potential lawyers into alternative careers. The market might be forced to respond by lowering the price of a legal education. In 2004, the number of law applicants peaked, and it has since been dropping steadily each year. Another possible influencing factor: a decline in applications typically leads to a decline in the quality of students. If schools are forced to admit more students to fill their halls, they will likely be forced to lower their tuition costs.

New Financial Aid Mandates Go into Effect in July 2008
Earlier this year, New York State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo uncovered widespread corruption in the student loan system, finding that loan officers in many high-ranking universities were intentionally directing students to accept loans from companies who were paying the officers "consulting" fees. Sallie Mae and other prominent lenders have since settled with the state government, but this has not stopped the creation of new rules to help combat the problem of corruption in the system. New national mandates which go into effect next July will require universities to include no fewer than three preferred lenders on lists they submit for students' consideration. They must also fully disclose all criteria used to determine which companies they recommend and are prohibited from suggesting companies that have offered them financial incentives for including their names on such lists.